


they say i'll get hurt (if i'm not like ice)

by hearden



Series: addicted but trying to quit [4]
Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Angst, Cheating, F/F, F/M, Psychological Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-16 20:15:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14172579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hearden/pseuds/hearden
Summary: Disaster strikes when Kim comes home, and Kat witnesses the first fall of the Power Rangers.(aka part four of kimkat curious au which, surprisingly to me, has real plot now)





	they say i'll get hurt (if i'm not like ice)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bargalaxies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bargalaxies/gifts).



> in hindsight, it would've made more sense to put these all together in one multichap fic but, let's be real, if *i* did *that*, then it'd never be finished lol it's so much easier to string oneshots together than start and finish a multichap
> 
> april fools i can't believe kim is actually going to attempt a genuine apology

Kim flies back home Sunday evening, so Kat spends the afternoon sparring with the Rangers, dreading the moment that's inevitably coming. Her eye has been not-so-subtly on her Snapchat the whole week, watching Kim make vague posts about her trip to England. It's not much, just pictures of her and cousin or her outfit of the day, but one particular video grabs Kat's attention and she doesn't know what to make of it or how she feels about it. Kim's just sitting there, rolling her eyes into the camera, and if Kat turns the volume up all the way, she hears yelling, distantly, in the background, and what sounds like Kim's parents' voices.

Kat almost feels smug and pettily satisfied about it but then, immediately after, regrets it. Of course, it's only human for her to feel a little bit _ha, take that_ but Kat isn't that kind of person deep down. She's kind. Or tries to be, despite everything that's happened.

At least it's not the _only_ thing about her, though.

Her hand stops just short of chopping into Tommy's throat, and he breathes out a sigh of relief -- not that she would’ve been able to hurt him, anyway. "You're getting better at this."

"Okay, but the _real_ test doesn't come until you've been fighting holograms of Putties for, like, two weeks," Zack says, and Jason elbows him.

Kat laughs and pulls her hair out of its ponytail, shaking it loose, "I'm still human, I don't think I'd be able to handle that."

Trini steps up to take Kat's place in sparring, but right when she does, the ground beneath their feet shakes, knocking her back to the ground.

Kat holds her hands out to brace herself, and Tommy is by her side almost immediately, holding her steady.

"Nobody said anything about an earthquake!" Zack yells, putting his hands protectively over his head.

The shaking stops.

An unmistakable metallic screech cuts through the air.

"That… wasn't an earthquake," Kat says, letting go of Tommy's arm. He still lingers by her side in case of an aftershock, though.

 _"Rangers, report to the Zord bay immediately,"_ Zordon's voice echoes in the pit around them, and the Rangers obey, scrambling for the stairs. It's not her place, but since she can't quite get out of here without one of them helping her, she figures it's best to just stick with the safest option.

Kat follows but ends up falling behind, anyway, because, well, her friends can run faster than she can. She skids into the Zord bay, bumping into Billy and mumbling an apology, then peeks around him to see what the hell is going on. "Uh… that… hole isn't supposed to be there, right?"

Jason blinks, staring out at the sky that they can all suddenly see through a giant, robot-sized hole in the rock wall, "Uh… no, no, it's not."

Kat glances over the Zords. Everything seemed to be fine except…

The pterodactyl was very, very much missing.

 

-

 

"Clearly, I did _not_ do it," Kim repeats, pacing back and forth between the walls of the main chamber. It's a little distracting and irritating, and Kat wants to tell her to sit down.

"Sit down," Trini says, suddenly, "Your anxiety's giving _me_ anxiety."

Oh, thank God.

Kim looks at Trini, frowning, then takes a seat on the steps leading to the rest of the ship, huffing.

"We don't think you had anything to do with it," Jason says, reassuringly, "Especially since you were still on your flight when it happened, so…"

"But, whatever did happen was because you weren't here," Tommy comments, “Rita took advantage of us, somehow.”

"At least it wasn't a monster attack," Kim says, shrugging.

"We're missing an _entire Zord,_ Kim."

"Yeah, okay, that's fair."

They all stare at each other. If Kim is surprised to see Kat in the ship, she doesn’t show it.

“Okay, what’s our next course--” Trini begins to ask, but her face contorts in pain and she collapses to the ground.

“Trini, what--” A screech pierces Kat’s skull, and she crumbles to the ground, clamping her hands over her ears, crying out in pain. Between feeling like her skin is being peeled off with a knife and her brain is slowly being cut apart, Kat manages to see that the Rangers are on the ground writhing in pain as well.

A voice sounds in her mind, deep and cold, filling her with a sense of existential dread, like nothing in life matters now that she’s heard it.

_I am Lord Zedd, Emperor of Evil, and you are at my mercy._

Kat squeezes her eyes shut, but the pain continues and she digs her nails into her scalp.

_Rita Repulsa is gone. She has failed in her mission to defeat the Power Rangers and conquer Earth._

An image flashes in her mind of a woman in green armor with a golden scepter that Kat only knows from news reports to be Rita, falling -- or being shoved -- into a bright, white portal. Kat opens her eyes and tries to look at somebody, anybody. She meets Jason’s eyes first. He’s shocked, something that she's never seen Jason be before. Everything is so terribly wrong.

_I am here to finish what she started._

Billy, dead, and the others carrying his body like an honor guard. Kim desperately feeling his neck for a pulse, tears falling from her eyes. These aren't Kat's memories. Maybe, they're not real, she thinks--

"Billy!" Kim yells from across the room, her knees curled up to her chest, agony and tears on her face.

"I'm here!" he shouts back, pressing his forehead against the cold, metal floor.

"Zordon, do something!" Kat pleads. If this doesn't rip her skull in half, then she feels like her hands will of their own accord.

"I can't," Zordon responds, solemnly, and Kat vaguely registers Alpha frantically scrambling around, measuring their vitals, "Zedd's powers are too strong."

_Surrender now, Power Rangers, and this can all stop. I already have one of your Zords._

Zack screams and bangs one of his fists against the floor, making a dent in it with his knuckles, "Like hell we will! We're gonna find you--"

_And do what? Kill me? As if you could even face me._

Kat sees him in her mind. At first, she doesn't even know what she's looking at, just that she wants to look away, but the bright red of his visor, lined by gleaming silver, is too alluring and, even as she physically turns her head, still squirming on the floor, she can't mentally wipe her mind. He's stronger than her. He is eternal. She wants to surrender--

"No!" Trini shouts, clenching her hands into fists and gritting her teeth in pain and determination. The first hints of her armor flicker over her skin, progressing and receding as she tries to fight against the agony.

_I won't hesitate to destroy Angel Grove with your own weapons. Surrender or I will take what's dear to you._

Suddenly, Kat isn't in the ship anymore but standing in smoke, chaos, and bodies. The sky is bright with fire. Almost immediately, she sees Billy's hand under a pile of debris, the watch on his wrist glinting among the debris. Jason's t-shirt is ripped down the back, dark blood blending into the red fabric. She takes a step forward and stops, her shoe kicking against something. A black bead rolls away from her, the tip of her shoe tapping against it. Around her foot are more beads of the same shade and a broken string. A wave of nausea overcoming her, Kat forces herself to keep going, stumbling between piles of rubble. Half of a green jacket is caught on the end of a metal rod jutting out from the ground, the dragon insignia on the back missing its tail. She looks, but she can't find the other half. Trini's favorite yellow flannel shirt is on the ground, but her body isn't. Trembling, Kat picks it up. It feels so real between her fingers. Even the blood on it is still damp.

This is real.

"Kat…"

She turns around at the sound of Kim's weak voice, halting in her tracks when she sees who is holding Kim hostage. Lord Zedd towers over them both. He holds a silver staff in his free hand, the sharp Z at the top pressed against Kim's neck. His skin -- if she can even call it that -- is gruesome and sickly, and it's with a startled realization that Kat gets that he has no skin.

"A good observation," Zedd says then leans down to speak to Kim, "Why don't you tell her what else would be a good observation?"

Kim is hyperventilating, panicking, and her voice wavers, "It-- it's over, Kat. We c-can surrender, and he'll let us go. P-please."

"No," she shakes her head and takes a step back, her shoulders shaking, "You can't-- you can't just give up, Kim. _You're_ the last one left."

"I'm trying to _save_ you--" Kim pleads, and then Zedd drives his staff straight through her stomach.

" _Kim!_ "

Kat's eyes snap open, and she bolts up, the metal floor of the ship hard against her hands and knees. Panting and trying to catch her breath, she glances at the others, locking eyes with Kim last, who looks just as terrified as she feels.

"Is it over?" Zack asks, weakly, groaning as he sits up. Kat sighs to herself in relief when she sees that the bracelet on his wrist is still intact.

She looks at Trini, reaching out to touch the flannel she has on but pulling her hand back at the last moment, "You're… you're okay."

Trini looks at her. " _You're_ okay," she says back, quietly.

Kat presses her hand against her mouth, fighting to hold back tears. Zedd had showed them all different visions of what could happen if they didn't surrender…

She wonders when she became part of the _they_ that was the Rangers.

Even more, she wonders who Zedd had threatened for Kim, if she even cared about anyone that much.

Kat holds her head in her hands, trying to regain any sense of calm, but her heart is pounding too fast and then the alarm goes off. No moment to rest, only worry all the time. Blearily, she looks up at the Morphing Grid in the center of the chamber. The Rangers are already scrambling to their feet.

The display flickers with images of the pterodactyl as it sets fire to Angel Grove with its lasers. Police officers and SWAT are already on scene, firing at it, and Kat even glimpses at a missile launcher, but it's alien tech and humans are no match for that.

"We're getting my Zord back," Kim says, clenching her jaw. Her armor materializes over her like a second skin, and Kat tears her eyes away, the pain of seeing Kim bleeding at Zedd's hands too fresh.

"Be careful," Kat whispers into the fabric of her shirt, and Kim looks at her like she heard.

 

-

 

They lose the other four Zords.

Kat watches in high anxiety, her blood running cold the entire time, but nothing gets better. However Zedd had stolen the pterodactyl, he could do the exact same to the other four Zords, and the Rangers had only ejected themselves out of the cockpits just in time before machine turned on its owner.

Zedd does something. She doesn't understand what and Zordon says he's never seen it before, but flashes of lightning come down from the sky and when they clear, the Zords aren't the same. The forms aren't dinosaurs anymore. Kat recognizes the animals from what she's seen of the mythology sketches that Tommy's doodled in his notebooks before, but they're different, twisted, evil. The idea that Zedd would take something from them and turn it for his own wrath sickens her.

The red dragon and the firebird take to the skies, raining down hell on the people of the city. The griffin prowls the streets, setting fire to buildings and cars. The lion and the unicorn break the ground apart, and, even from the ship, Kat can feel the tremors.

Something about Tommy's powers means he's different. Kat doesn't know exactly what it is, but she thinks it has to do with how the five were chosen versus how he was chosen. Either way, one against five isn't a fair fight at all, and a fully formed but _different_ Megazord slices the Dragonzord into pieces of smoke and fire.

 

-

 

She hadn't been able to bring herself to even stand up when the Rangers came in, Jason and Zack carrying Tommy between their shoulders. His head had drooped to one side, and Kat had scrambled off to The Pit to heave until there were tears in her eyes. She returns to the Rangers yelling over each other to get answers from Zordon, but he has none.

"He got into our _heads,_ " Jason says, running a hand through his hair, frustratedly, "How are we supposed to fight against that? How are we supposed to get our Zords back?"

"I have an idea," Billy says, suddenly, but he doesn't sound as excited as he normally does whenever he has an idea, "It'll take some time, but I think I can come up with something to reverse Zedd's, uh, robot telepathy, I guess you could call it." He points at Jason and Alpha, "I'll need your help."

"Yeah, okay, buddy," Jason nods.

Kat walks off to sit by Tommy's bedside in the medbay, the air too heavy and stifling for her to handle looking at any of the others right now.

 

-

 

That's where Kim finds her when the battle is over. The Rangers got -- what Billy coined as -- their Thunderzords back, but Kat still can't bring herself to be in celebration. Well, she doesn't think _anyone_ is in a celebratory mood, really. They won, but at the cost of Angel Grove in ruins worse than when Rita had first attacked and the people in fear of how easily Zedd had gotten his hands on the _Power Rangers'_ Zords.

And at the cost of Tommy being taken out of action.

Kat is staring at the green power coin in her hands, tracing her thumb over the deep crack in the middle, when Kim gently raps her knuckles on the entryway to the medbay. She looks over her shoulder to see who it is and frowns then looks back at the coin. The color is faded, less bright than it had been before. Kat doesn't know what that means for Tommy's powers, but she figures it can't mean anything good.

"How are you doing?" Kim asks, quietly. She doesn't make a move to step into the medbay, and Kat's glad for the space.

"Don't act like you care," Kat mutters.

"Fine," Kim huffs, and Kat doesn't have to look to know that she's crossing her arms, petulantly, "Then how's _he_ doing?"

"Hasn't changed," she sighs.

A long silence stretches so much that Kat thinks Kim had left without her knowing or hearing her footsteps, but then, Kim speaks up again, "I'm sorry."

"Kim, not right now--" she protests, gritting her teeth together.

" _No,_ " Kim doesn't stop, "I'm sorry about bringing you into this."

Kat frowns, her brow furrowing in confusion, and she sets Tommy's power coin back on the small shelf next to his bed before standing up and walking over to Kim. When they're standing only inches apart, she says, slowly, "You didn't bring me into anything. I _moved_ here, remember?"

Kim nods, slightly, "Yeah, but… I brought you into this by… not telling you about the stuff that was going on with me, you know, cheer and Amanda and Ty. I knew I was becoming a different person, and I… I knew you wouldn't like that side of me, so I hid it from you. I'm sorry for not letting you in."

Kat fidgets with the hem of her shirt. "Would you… If Zordon hadn't sworn you to secrecy," she asks, hesitantly, "Would you have told me about your powers?"

What she wants to hear is _yes,_ but Kim thinks about her answer for a moment, glancing at a spot on the ground, her brow pinched right where Kat wants to just lean forward and press a soft kiss to, then she looks up and confesses, "I don't know. I… I think I might've just wanted that for myself."

It's not _yes,_ but it's the first honest thing Kim has said to her in a long time.

**Author's Note:**

> title from Feelings - Hayley Kiyoko


End file.
